At Surfrider Pacific Rim, we’re dedicated to protecting and enjoying the ocean, beaches, and waves. Our focus is directed towards ending plastic pollution and enabling the transition to a circular economy. You may be asking yourself, what exactly is a circular economy? It’s the answer to changing our current make-take-waste system which defines the linear economy, which is powered by fossil fuels and sends an erroneous and destructive amount of biological and technical waste to landfills. This pollutive system has led to resource scarcity, plastic pollution, climate change, environmental racism, along with a spectrum of other social and environmental issues. Whereas a circular economy is underpinned by renewable energy and ensures that materials stay in use, waste and pollution are designed out of systems, and natural systems are regenerated.

As we've collectively been spending more time at home, we've been able to pay closer attention to the operations that govern our households, from the projects we’ve had on the backburners, as well as the new skills or hobbies we’ve been yearning to learn. While those of us who are privileged to have a home and extra time on our hands, here’s Surfrider Pacific Rim’s top tips for embracing the circular economy within the vicinity of our households.

Repair to keep materials in use and save cash.

Not only does repairing your items save you funds as this eradicates the need to purchase replacements, you also gain new skills, lower greenhouse gases and lower waste. According to the Ellen Macarthur Foundation “repair is better than recycling. Making our things last longer is both more efficient and more cost-effective than mining them for raw materials”. You can repair what will increase the zen of your space: leaky faucets, unstable chairs, household and garden equipment, dents or holes in walls, kitchen appliances, etc. With this, join the #fixathome challenge with ifixit (www.ifixit.com), which has repair guides for literally anything you can think of!

Spring cleaning for embracing minimalism.

As we’re no longer running around, rushing around completely an overflowing list of tasks, we have more hours to find solace in simplifying our lives. We can indulge in this even more by examining and sorting all of our clothing and putting aside what we no longer need or use for donations. We can apply this same practice as we inspect items in our living rooms, storage units, kitchens, bathrooms, and garage. What do we have extra of? What do we have and never use but could be helpful for someone else?  What do we have lying around that’s not functional but we can get safely refurbished or recycled? Think: old phones, electronics, unusable textiles, paint, chemicals, broken furniture, lightbulbs, batteries, etc! Visit https://www.pacificrim.surfrider.org/ocean-friendly-resource-portal to gain access to the full waste diversion directory for the west coast.

Regenerate your immediate environment!

Many folks have been reclaiming their green thumbs the last few months, creating greater local food security while lowering waste. As we roll forward through summer, we can continue to cultivate “Ocean Friendly” gardens. To do this, we need to go organic and eliminate the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, apply mulch and compost, plant native and climate-appropriate plants, shape our yards or gardens to slow down and soak up rainwater, as well as reduce the size of lawns (creating more space for plants, trees, and gardens!)

Caring for an Ocean Friendly garden will reduce runoff, conserve water, eliminate pollution, and create biologically active and healthy soil which leads to more carbon sequestration. In a circular economy, the best solutions strategically solve multiple qualms, and in this case, planting gardens revives our connection with the planet, increases our food security, supports local garden centres, and regenerates natural systems. No yard, no problem! We can also plant potted herbs, vegetables, and/or plants in our indoor living spaces, which filters the air and colours our home with the vibrancy of the outer world. 

Inviting biomimicry in for a visit.

The circular economy is founded on multiple theories, which includes biomimicry, which posits that we should look to nature for solutions to humanity’s problems. So, we can use this time to learn from the earth’s systems and even bring nature indoors for unresolved challenges. To freshen up living spaces and invite sweet scents inside, sustainably harvest foliage with a rich aroma, as well as plants and flowers to bring a splash of colour into the home. Instead of using chemical-laden cleaners, turn to nature again and use products that contain botanicals and basic ingredients that are safe for human use, keep the house washed and sanitized, and are good for the environment. Another fun biomimicry-based craft is dying textiles with plants, as Francesca Willow states, “This is a great idea for upcycling your old and stained clothes or giving a new look to washed off pieces. The best part – you can do it all by yourself in your own kitchen, it’s for free and it’s completely natural and non-toxic.” Whereas conventional dyes used in the textile industry are extremely pollutive and are a hazard to human health, particularly for the workers who dye the textiles. 

Design waste and pollution out of your home systems.

We’ve discussed numerous ways to design waste and pollution out of our daily operations throughout this guide, however, another great avenue to accomplish this is conducting a plastic audit in your home. You can even dress for the occasion and get fancy with a clipboard, and then methodically move from room to room in your house. In your bathroom, are you using a plastic toothbrush, plastic garbage bag, toothpaste, deodorant, and other amenities in plastic packaging? What can you replace with nonplastic alternatives? Do you have single-use cotton swabs (also plastic!), eye makeup removers, face wipes or baby wipes, dental picks? All of these single-use items now have reusable or non-plastic alternatives. In your kitchen, do you have individually wrapped tea bags, coffee pods, or fruits and vegetables? Do you have Ziploc bags or saran wrap that you can replace with reusable silicone bags and beeswax wrap? Do you have reusable bags, containers, mugs, bottles, cutlery bags, and produce bags to use when you’re out? Visit paciicrim.surfrider.org to gain access to the guideline for the safe use of reusable vessels. You can also perform a waste bin audit to see what you’re sending to the landfill that you can eliminate or swap out for a recyclable or compostable alternative.

Cover photo by Nicole Holman